Troparia and kontakia for July 2

Saint John [Maximovitch], Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco

Troparion — Tone 5

Your care for your flock in its sojourn prefigured your prayers, / which you always offer up for the whole world. / Thus we believe, having come to know your love, O holy hierarch and wonderworker John. / Wholly sanctified by God through the ministry of the all-pure Mysteries, / and ever strengthened by them yourself, / you hastened to the suffering, O healer, easing their afflictions. / Hasten now to help us, who honor you with all our heart.

Kontakion — Tone 4

Your heart went out to all who entreat you with love, O hierarch John, / and who remember the struggle of your life, and thy painless and easy repose, / O faithful servant of the all-pure Directress.*


* Directress refers to the Mother of God as Hodēgḗtria (She who shows the way).

The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Most Holy Mother of God at Blachernae

Troparion — Tone 8

Ever-Virgin Theotokos, protectress of mankind, you have given your people a powerful legacy: / the robe and sash of your most honored body, which remained incorrupt throughout your seedless childbearing; for through you time and nature are renewed! / Therefore we implore you: “Grant peace to your people and to our souls great mercy!”

Kontakion — Tone 4

O Pure One, full of the grace of God, / you have given your sacred robe as a garment of incorruption to all the faithful, / with it you covered your holy body, O divine protection of all mankind. / We celebrate its enshrinement in Blachernae with love and we cry aloud with awe: / “Rejoice, O Virgin, boast of Christians.”

Saint Photius, Metropolitan of Kiev

Troparion — Tone 4

In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith, / an image of humility and a teacher of abstinence; / your humility exalted you; / your poverty enriched you. / Hierarch Father Photius, / entreat Christ our God / that our souls may be saved.

Saint Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem

Troparion — Tone 4

O successor of the Brother of the Lord on the archpastoral throne of the holy city of Jerusalem, / you are worthy of praise. / With the divinely-wise Fathers of Chalcedon / you expounded the Incarnation of the Son of God, / Who came to renew the world and to deify all men, / united with Him in His Church. O Hierarch Father Juvenal, / now as you stand before the throne of Father of Lights in the Kingdom, / pray for those who lovingly honor you, / and may the peace and mercy of the Savior be with us.

Icon of the Mother of God of Akhtyr

Troparion — Tone 4

Most blessed Virgin, pure Mother of God, / standing before the Cross of your Son and our God, / you endured great sorrow and received from Him the grace to comfort those in sorrow. / Therefore, gazing reverently upon your most pure Icon and seeing you depicted on it, / before the Cross of the Savior, / with breaking hearts we cry out to you: / “O fervent protectress good and merciful. / Hasten to deliver us from all adversity, need, and sickness, and save our souls, / that we may always glorify you with thanksgiving.”

Kontakion — Tone 8

Let us turn, O believers, to the gracious source of mercy and bounty, / the miraculous Icon of the Most Pure Virgin, / for it has been given to us from on high for the healing of souls and bodies, / and we venerate it with love, crying out to the Theotokos: / “O All-praised Mother, All-merciful Queen, / protect and preserve us from all evil things by your maternal intercession before God.”

Saint Stephen the Great

Troparion — Tone 2

O right-believing Prince Stephen, / the Church of Christ had you as a fearless defender of the true Faith; / for this reason all the people have called you great, good, and holy, and have honored you. / By your prayers to God, we always have you as the strengthener of our Orthodox Faith and the protector of our country.

Kontakion — Tone 1

By truly loving God, O glorious Stephen, you built holy churches and monasteries; / you helped the poor and forgave those who wronged you. / Because of your deeds, God endowed you with wisdom and the power to overcome the enemies of your country and of the Christian Faith. / Therefore, we honor you and call you Father.